Month: April 2020

Ford Motor Co. dodged what could have been a serious disruption to the production of its most profitable vehicles, including the F-150 pickup. The automaker, despite the coronavirus pandemic, had repair teams on the ground 12 hours after a tornado earlier this month ripped through a BorgWarner factory in Seneca, S.C., that supplies transfer cases

Demand for Tesla’s electric cars held up in the first three months of the year, despite upheavals caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Quarterly revenues jumped 30% from last year to $5.9bn (£4.7bn), allowing the firm to turn a small profit of $16m. It is the third quarterly profit in a row for the company, marking

Elon Musk made some bold statements about Tesla’s effort to develop self-driving technology during the automaker’s latest quarterly results. During a conference call following Tesla’s Q1 2020 results, Musk discussed Tesla’s latest Autopilot development with the new “Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control” feature. It’s the first step toward Tesla’s system being able to automatically

TOKYO — Japanese supplier Denso has cut global production by about 50 percent due to the coronavirus and says its supply chain could be affected in the coming months if the outbreak is prolonged. The world’s fourth-biggest components producer and a key supplier to Toyota posted an 81 percent drop in operating profit on Thursday

Not too long ago, Harry Metcalfe published a review suggesting that the BMW X5 was the world’s first SUV but that irritated some of his American watchers who claimed that no, the Jeep XJ Cherokee was in fact the first Sports Utility Vehicle of its type. To see whether that’s true or not, Metcalfe recently

The German auto industry is readying proposals for a new scrappage program to counter a sales slump that risks choking off production restarts at factories across Europe’s biggest economy. The state premiers of Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, home to Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, are expected to consult this week on a joint strategy ahead

Of the many memorable Porsche racing liveries, the Apple colors are among the rarest, as they were only used during the 1980 season. If a Martini or Gulf car seems too common, and you have half a million dollars to spare, this replica of the Apple-sponsored Porsche 935 is currently for sale on DuPont Registry

Dramatic dashcam footage has captured the moment a PIT maneuver went wrong during a high-speed chase in Fort Smith, Arkansas. A report from 5 News Online says that the chase started at around 6:30 a.m. on April 10 when an officer with the U.S. Forestry Service noticed a black Ram 1500 pickup run a red

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the daunting challenges of reviving the North American auto industry, it’s understandable that the industry’s focus isn’t on clean energy and slowing global warming. Some 26 million Americans losing their jobs creates more urgent economic problems than cheap gasoline eroding already-limited demand for zero-emission vehicles. If anything,

Tesla‘s energy business results in Q1 2020 were not too strong, but a few milestones were achieved, which is a good sign for the future. First of all, Tesla Energy revenues amounted to $293 million (9.6% below Q1 2019), while the cost of revenues stands at $282 million. The difference is about $11 million, which translates

SAO PAULO — Global automakers seeking emergency financing for their plants in Brazil have reached an impasse with several state and private banks, after the lenders demanded collateral from the parent companies, two sources told Reuters. The sources said the carmakers have balked at the request, delaying any decision on the billions of Brazilian reais

By Eric Ralph Posted on April 29, 2020 Hot on the heels of the revelation that SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy launch is on schedule and will carry a small satellite copassenger, a US Space Force official has effectively confirmed that it will feature the first dual rocket landing of its kind. Scheduled to launch no

FRANKFURT — Volkswagen Group is expecting an operating loss in the second quarter due the impact of the coronavirus pandemic but expects to be profitable on a full-year basis. Overall, VW expects operating profit for 2020 to be severely below last year, but still to remain positive, CFO Frank Witter said Wednesday, as the automaker

When Matt Farah from The Smoking Tire drove a pre-production prototype of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray last year for Road & Track’s Performance Car of the Year, he was left very impressed. However, the car was not perfect and in this latest video, the seasoned reviewer aims to see if the production car is

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess is pushing executives at the automaker to come up with solutions to match Tesla’s software expertise. Diess says Tesla’s has a competitive edge in electric cars and software is a threat to VW. In a recent webcast to VW executives, he voiced his concerns. “What worries me the most are

Audi is giving up on its most advanced driver-assist system. The German automaker will no longer add its Traffic Jam Pilot system to the A8 sedan in Europe or anywhere else in the world, Automotive News Europe reported Tuesday. It’s now too late to add the system to the current-generation A8, as the car is

Speeding on public roads is never a good idea but it can become particularly dangerous if you try to weave in between traffic at high speed. Just ask this driver in St Petersburg, Russia. The following incident occurred on April 22 and was filmed from the dashcam of a vehicle that witnessed the crash. Fortunately,

Brett Parham wants to get rid of as many cars as he can now and replenish his supply with fresh inventory. It’s easier said than done. “We’re doing our best to stimulate sales and to try to sell through all the inventory we can right now, because I want to go out and buy that

SK Innovation, a South Korean battery supplier for Volkswagen and Ford, said on Tuesday it will spend $727 million to build a second EV battery plant in the United States. Construction is expected to begin in July, with battery production slated to start in 2023. According to Reuters, the “further investment in its second US

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is postponing its autonomous vehicle commercial services until 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic and could ultimately change what services it offers once the crisis passes. Ford had previously planned to launch self-driving vehicles for commercial use, such as package delivery, at some point in 2021. The company, in partnership

Toyota celebrates a symbolic milestone of 15 million hybrid cars (Toyota and Lexus) sold globally since 1997, when the original Prius cme out. Such a high volume was achieved through a gradual expansion of the hybrid lineup to 44 models globally, while the hybrid system evolved to now its 4th generation. In Europe, Toyota sold

TOKYO — Nissan, already reeling from plunging profits and sales before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, is warning that the global outbreak could deliver a net loss of close to $1 billion. Nissan will sink to an operating loss of between 35 billion yen to 45 billion yen ($324.6 million and $417.4 million) and book an

Anyone in the market for a 3-row mid-size SUV has a lot of models to look at, from the Ford Explorer and Toyota Highlander, to the slightly smaller Kia Sorento. The GMC Acadia is also on the list, and since it was facelifted last year, it should be on your shopping list. Based on the

General Motors said Monday it has suspended its quarterly cash dividend on its common stock and its share buybacks to save cash in the face of the coronavirus crisis. The company has also expanded its cash options by extending a three-year revolving credit agreement for $3.6 billion to April 2022. Earlier this month GM and GM Financial,

Math majors close your eyes: Porsche on Monday confirmed that 930 will go into 911. The automaker confirmed that its 930 leather package, which is standard in the 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S, will be offered throughout the 911 range for 2021. The quilted pattern on the seats and doors resembles a similar pattern used

If you own a fairly typical car, for example an affordable mainstream hatchback, crossover, or SUV, you won’t be hard-pressed to find a set of aftermarket wheels for less than $700. Admittedly, these wheels will be cast rather than forged but for the most part, affordable wheels from the aftermarket can do the job. However,

If the industry wasn’t already deep in the throes of one crisis, a tornado strike on an important supplier plant in Seneca, S.C., this month would have handed it another — suddenly limiting the supply of BorgWarner transfer cases used by several automakers in the production of many of their highly profitable four-wheel-drive pickups and

By Joey Klender Posted on April 27, 2020 Tesla could drop its plans to call some workers back to the Fremont factory after counties in the San Francisco Bay Area expressed plans to extend Stay-at-Home orders through the entire month of May and possibly into June. The Fremont facility is located in Alameda County, California.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra’s 2019 compensation fell slightly, but she remains the highest paid chief executive among the Detroit 3. Barra’s total pay package was $21.6 million last year, a decline of 1 percent – or about $240,000. Her compensation, disclosed Monday in GM’s annual proxy statement, includes a $2.1 million base salary, unchanged